Unlock The Day Of The Doctor!

Social networking gets a lot of criticism; admittedly, there are shadows in even the brightest of rooms. But there’s a lot of good, a lot of innovation, that comes from this amazing community.

Just look at that lovely story of Harold Jellicoe Percival, a member of the ground crew of Bomber Command, operating during the Dam Busters raid: he died with no close relatives and no close friends. But his death, at the age of 99, was marked by an obituary that kickstarted an internet campaign – and yesterday, at 11am, over 300 people, including military personnel, attended his funeral as a sign of their immense respect.

Social networking opens the world up, and shows the very worst, but crucially, the very best too.

In a very cool move, the BBC has announced that tagging Doctor Who content on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #SaveTheDay can unlock exclusive clips of The Day of the Doctor, the 50th anniversary special that airs in just 11 days!

It’s a brilliant move – upload your creative content to form a stunning array of stars, which form a constellation: the TARDIS. It looks to be going well too, with the top part of the time machine already being realised.

The cynical amongst you will just put it down as a big PR stunt. Yes, it certainly is. But then, it’s also a manifestation, a representative image of fandom: possibly the greatest, most welcoming and immersive fandom on Earth. We need to spread the word. 23rd November is Doctor Who Day.

When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything.